"Imprisonment is nothing, but to live defeated and innocent is to die daily." Jeremy Bamber, 2012.

Sheila Caffells Mental Heath

Sheila Caffell had recently left St Andrews Hospital in Northampton after receiving treatment for schizophrenia. Sheila had told her psychiatrist that her children were the ‘devils children’ and that one of them was going to rape and murder her. She had stated clearly that she wanted them dead. Her medication had been reduced and she had been smoking cannabis. That evening her parents, Neville and June had raised the possibility of her children being fostered which undoubtedly would have upset Sheila.

In 1986 it was difficult for a jury to accept that such a woman would be capable of carrying out such a violent act but now in the 21st century we have a heightened awareness of the dangers of mental illness and also the violent acts which are often carried out by women.

Contrary to popular belief it is not uncommon for mentally ill women or indeed Paranoid schizophrenics to kill their families or to commit suicide. Below are links to cases recently in the news in the UK and Europe alone. And in the USA gun crime among women is more common simply because of their licensing laws.